Topic: VirnetX

A series of motions by Apple in court challenging the validity of a ruling in favor of patent aggregator VirnetX have been denied, with Apple facing a $439.7 million dollar penalty -- but there are still appeals of judgements to be made, as well as the conclusion of a patent invalidation process which may wipe the slate clean.

A class-action lawsuit filed in California on Thursday alleges Apple schemed to force iPhone users to upgrade to iOS 7 in a bid to save money on a data services deal with Akamai, a move that rendered older hardware like iPhone 4 and 4S unusable.

A federal judge has tossed out a February ruling requiring Apple to pay patent holding company VirnetX $625.5 million over secure communications patents used in FaceTime and iMessage, and has ordered two complete retrials.

Intensifying its patent infringement case against Apple, VirnetX has asked a Texas court to order an injunction against FaceTime, iMessage, and a VPN feature, while simultaneously asking for greater damage payments on top of $625.6 million awarded earlier this year.

After objecting to the closing arguments made by Caldwell, Cassady & Curry attorneys representing VirnetX, Apple has now filed a motion for mistrial in the case that awarded a $625 million verdict after just a week of testimony and deliberation.

A federal jury on Wednesday found Apple guilty of willfully infringing on four VirnetX patents, awarding the non-practicing entity $625.6 million in damages and ongoing royalties from a previous court finding.

Patent holding company VirnetX's infamous $368 million win over Apple -- which most notably resulted in changes to FaceTime that riled consumers -- has been thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after review.

As Apple gears up to defend itself against another lawsuit from patent holding firm VirnetX, the iPhone maker was dealt a blow late last week after the presiding judge issued a series of pre-trial rulings denying Apple's motion to preemptively invalidate some of VirnetX's patent claims and preventing the use of invalidity as a defense against others.

Patent holding company VirnetX on Tuesday announced that it will attempt to add Apple's most recent slate of products -- including the iPhone 5s and iPad Air -- to an ongoing patent infringement action that accuses Apple of violating VirnetX's secure networking patents.